CHAPTER 7

 

 

"So you do know him?" I asked him.

He nodded his head. "He is one of the group of hunters I told you about. This one in particular comes from a very long line of hunters who have stalked my kind for centuries."

"That's one hell of a family business," I commented.

"Indeed," Roland agreed. He furrowed his brow and shook his head. "What I can't figure out is how he found me."

I sighed. "It was Charlie." Roland turned to me with a raised eyebrow. I shrugged. "You scared him so bad that he blabbed it to somebody, and that somebody got a hold of Ginsleh."

Roland pursed his lips. "I see. It seems I chose poorly with contacting him."

I snorted. "I don't think Charlie realized a vampire hunter was going to hear about his story and set up this elaborate trap to kill you. I'm not even sure the family died there. Maybe they went on an extended vacation so he could use us as target practice."

Roland shook his head. "There was death in that house."

"So is this hunter going to keep coming after us until we're both dead?" I asked him.

"Perhaps. The hunters kill vampires and those who help them," he admitted.

"That kinda sounds like you and me," I commented.

Headlights flashed by the window beside the bed. I pulled aside the pink curtains and looked out. A large semi-truck with a load of hay pulled into the lot near the barn. The front door opened and shut, and I saw my uncle wander out to the truck.

"What is it?" Roland asked me.

"It's just Brady delivering some hay," I told him.

He raised an eyebrow. "At this hour?"

I dropped the curtain and turned to him with a shrug. "He's always worked this late." I saw a dark look in Roland's eyes. "Why?"

Roland reached into his pocket and drew out the piece of straw. "There was hay at the other house."

I folded my arms across my chest. "Are you seriously suggesting Brady had anything to do with their deaths? He's been here for years."

"Have you seen him during the day?" he asked me.

"No, but I don't do the day shift at the diner," I pointed out.

"And he only delivers at night?" Roland persisted.

I held up my hands. "Okay, I'll admit he's a little strange, but even if he is a vampire how come he didn't do anything before?"

"Perhaps he wished to get my attention," Roland suggested.

"How would he even know about-" I froze, and my voice came out in a hoarse whisper. "Charlie. He must have heard about you from Charlie, or whoever Charlie told and is blabbing to everyone else."

The front door opened and voices filled the front hall. I recognized Brady's voice with that of my uncle and aunt.

"Got any more deliveries tonight?" my uncle asked him.

"Nope. Yer my last one," Brady replied.

My eyes widened as I realized my aunt and uncle could be the next names on his menu. I hurried towards the door, but Roland caught my hand and pulled me onto the bed. He pressed me against his side and wrapped his arms around me.

"Let go!" I hissed at him.

"He won't harm them," he whispered to me.

"How do you know that?" I questioned him.

Roland turned his attention to the door. "Because he knows I'm here."

"Ya think I could use yer bathroom for a sec? I don't think I can make it back home," I heard Brady ask.

"Of course. It's upstairs, the first door on the left," Aunt Ma told him.

My heart beat like a sledgehammer against a steel drum as Brady walked up the stairs. His footsteps paused at the front of the hall, and then they kept walking down the hall to my bedroom door. I held my breath as I watched the knob turn and the door swung open. In the doorway stood the tall figure of Brady, and his eyes had a strange red glint to them.

Brady stepped inside and the lamp showed off a toothy smile. Either he really needed to see a dentist or Roland was right and Brady's long teeth were his vampire instincts coming out to play.

"The bathroom's at the top of the stairs," I told him.

Brady shut the door behind him and chuckled. "It ain't the bathroom I want." He nodded at Roland. "It's him and that box of his." My dangling feet touched the box. I scooted it beneath the bed, but that got the attention of Brady. He toothy grin widened. "Not trying to hide something from yer old friend Brady, are ya, Misty?"

"You'd know about hiding stuff," I returned.

He sauntered to the end of the bed and shrugged. "Maybe I've been hiding stuff, but it ain't no business of yers. All I want is that guy and his box, and then I'll leave."

I stood up and held out my hands. "Brady, why don't we just go downstairs and talk this-"

"Don't play dumb with me, Misty," Brady snarled. "I know what he is. I could smell it in the lot, and I followed you two from the house. It was just lucky for me yer folks had a delivery waiting on my truck. Couldn't deliver it for a while 'cause I was waiting for you to pick up my trail."

I took a step towards him. "Listen, I don't know what this is about-"

"Shut it!" Brady snapped at me. "Charlie might be an idiot, but he's no liar. I know'd a vampire tale when I hear one, and that was one." I'd have to thank Charlie later for his big mouth. "There's only one vampire who'd be wanting a human's help and be stupid enough to ask fer it like that."

A streak of shadow flew past me from the bed and crashed into Brady. Brady's back was slammed into the wall and I saw he grappled with Roland.

"Give it up, old man. You can't win after that shot from the hunter. You've lost too much blood," Brady taunted Roland.

"You were an idiot to bring him there," Roland growled.

Brady shoved Roland backwards and the good vamp fell to the floor. "I ain't brought him anywhere. That hunter came here a couple of days ago and started asking around the trucks for you." Brady grinned as he strode towards Roland and lifted Roland by the collar. Roland's feet swung off the floor and he grabbed at Brady's arm. "Good thing I have him that newspaper clipping of my handiwork. He did most of the work for me." His face twisted into a snarl. "Now you're gonna come with me and no funny business, or your girlfriend dies."

The door to the bedroom flew open and slammed against the wall. It swung back towards the doorway, but I caught my uncle in the doorway with his thirty-ought six rifle in his hands.

"Not on my watch," my uncle growled.

The blast of the gun made my ears vibrate and my uncle stumble back. The bullet made a nice dent in Brady's head and he dropped to the ground in a heap of limp limbs. Roland landed on his feet, but his strength couldn't hold him and he crumpled to the floor. I hurried over to him as my uncle strode into the room with the barrel still pointed at Brady's body. He nudged one of Brady's legs, but the only thing the vampire did was continue to bleed all over my carpet.

My uncle shouldered his gun and frowned at the body. "I never did like his prices, but I never expected him to be this kind of bloodsucker," he commented.

"He is. . .not defeated," Roland spoke up.

Uncle Seward pointed the barrel at Brady. "He's got a hole in him the size of the Grand Canyon. That outta finish a vampire."

Roland shook his head. "He is only in shock sleep. He could awaken at-" That moment came as Brady's eyes flew open. He jumped to his feet and showed off the two-inch hole that went through one cheek and out the back of his head.

Brady grabbed the barrel of my uncle's gun and grinned at him. "Now that ain't a neighborly thing to do, Pat. I'm just gonna have to kill you, too."

"Oh no you don't!" I yelled.

I dove at Brady and tackled his legs. His knees buckled and he fell onto his knees. Uncle Seward aimed his gun at Brady's head and got off a couple more booming shots. The two bullets chewed up Brady's head until it resembled spaghetti, but Brady acted like it was just a flesh wound. He grabbed the collar of my shirt and flung me forward. I collided with Uncle Seward and he cushioned my blow as we both hit the wall.

Brady stood and glared at us with the one eye that remained in his head. "You're gonna pay for that," he growled.

Roland jumped onto his back and grabbed Brady's head in both hands. With a quick twist he divorced Brady's head from his body. The papers must have all been signed right because the moment the head was separated both parts crumbled to dust. In a few seconds there was nothing but a pile of ash on the floor. Even the blood on the carpet from the bullet wounds was dust.

"That's one way to get the blood stains out," I quipped.

"If you're all right enough to crack jokes then get off me," my uncle growled.

"Oh, sorry." I got off him and helped him sit up. He still had the thirty-ought six in one hand. "How'd you know to bring your gun up here and shoot Brady?" I asked him.

He scoffed. "Shoot Brady? Those bullets were supposed to be for that vampire you brought with you. Speaking of that, I've got some unfinished business with him." He made to stand, but I grabbed the barrel of his gun and shoved the end at the floor.

"He just saved our lives," I reminded him.

"By bringing that vampire here in the first place," he countered.

"You're the one who invited Brady inside," I argued.

"And I'm just about to uninvite your friend here," he quipped.

"Patrick Seward, you'll do no such thing," my aunt spoke up from the doorway. She marched over to us and wrenched the gun from my uncle's hand. "I didn't tell you this young man's secret just so you could blow him away."

"You knew about Roland, too?" I asked her.

"He's hardly a young man, Ma," Uncle Seward countered.

"That's neither here nor there, Pat," she insisted.

I stood and held up my hands. "Wait a second. What's going on here?" I turned to my aunt. "How'd you know he was a vampire?" I looked to Roland and the ash pile in front of him. "And what the hell just happened here?"

"Your aunt is a very thorough nurse," Roland replied.

Aunt Ma smiled sweetly and shrugged. "I just checked his blood pressure and was a little concerned when I didn't feel any pulse."

"I admitted what I was to her and she took the news quite well," he added.

"So you'll knock me out with your eyes, but spill the beans to my aunt?" I growled.

"Your family would have to learn about our arrangement at some point," he pointed out.

"And as family I'm going to take care of this arrangement," Uncle Seward spoke up. He swung the barrel towards Roland, but Aunt Ma and me dove on top of him and wrestled with the gun. "Damn it, women, get off me!"

"Not until you come to your senses!" Aunt Ma insisted.

"I'm the only one with sense left in this family!" he retorted.

"Quiet."

Roland's low, tense voice broke through our witty banter and tussle. We paused and looked to him. He stared straight ahead at the doorway. His lips were pressed tightly together and his pale face was even paler than during his blood loss.

"He comes."